Movie Review: Immortal (Immortel ad vitam)

Immortal (2004) (Immortel ad vitam) 

Téléma, TF1 Films Production, CiBy 2000, RF2K Productions, Force Majeure Productions, Medusa Film, TPS Star, Cofimage 13, Natexis Banques Populaires Images 2, Sofica Valor 6 France, Italy, UK, 2004. 

Based on Enki Bilal's Nikopol Trilogy comic books. 

Flying Egyptian pyramid has parked in the sky of NYC. God Horus has apparently been naughty as the other gods strip him of his immortality. He has one week to finish his business and then: "You're fired!" Corrupt Senator Allgood (Joe Sheridan) supports evil medical corporation Eugenics that is conducting experiments on space aliens who pop out from the gateway in Central Park. Inspector Froebe (Yann Collette) is inspecting serial murders where the victims suddenly explode. 

Just a normal day in NYC

Horus

Jill

The law enforcement keeps their prisoners deep-frozen. A part of the prison falls down and Horus saves rebel leader Nikopol (Thomas Kretschmann) as he wants to use Nikopol as a puppet for his own purposes. Nikopol sees that the world has changed but the spirit of rebellion that he started still lives on. Alien girl Jill (Linda Hardy) has lost her memory and Dr. Elma Turner (Charlotte Rampling) finds her physiology interesting. Horus needs an offspring and he also finds Jill's physiology interesting. Nikopol is not happy about his role in the ménage à trois. Eugenics sends also Hammerhead/human hybrid assassins to join the game. And then there is a mythical Charon-like figure John (Frédéric Pierrot) who is not bringing souls to the Underworld but bringing important aliens to Earth. 

Dr. Elma Turner

Nikopol

Froebe

Horus as a god is all-powerful the humans are just pawns in his game. The gods have also a weird sense of humour. However in the end as his immortality is nearing its end it almost seems that even he has learned something about humanity.

The movie has a cool but strange visual style mixing CGI-animated characters and human actors, being more of an animation than live action. Only Linda Hardy, Thomas Kretschmann and Charlotte Rampling are not animated. It takes a bit time to get accustomed to the fully CGI-rendered characters. I guess it looks like it does because it tries to show the humans that have biomechanically altered are meant to look fake while the unmodified humans look real. Mythology, Tarkovsky and Baudelaire references. The flying taxicabs seem to be common in French scifi, so "The Fifth Element" seems to owe a lot to Bilal's original comics. The story has more in common with Japanese anime and Mamoru Oshii's films than Hollywood scifi. Although there is some action it is quite heavy in philosophy and symbolism. However the movie looks at times too synthetic and the visual style takes the front seat. Some plot elements are left vague and for example Allgood's presence in the story does not have much other point than him being a general nuisance. Not all the side plots have a satisfying conclusion and questions remain open. Probably I have to get the original comic to see how different it is compared to the film. Not perfect but fascinating to watch and recommended for friends of smarter scifi.

Too much plastic surgery makes you look like Lili and Allgood

Bartender in 2095

Rating: Good

Starring: Linda Hardy, Thomas Kretschmann, Charlotte Rampling, Yann Collette, Frédéric Pierrot, Thomas M. Pollard, Joe Sheridan, Corinne Jaber, Olivier Achard, Jerry Di Giacomo, Dominique Mahut, Gary Cowan, Augustin Legrand, Javon Constantin, Owen Steketee, Joel Mitchell, Shush Tenin, Vanessa Hope, Charles Maquignon, Derrick Brenner, Rhonda Constantin, Tony Vanaria, David Gasman, Thierry René, Jacquelyn Toman, Eddie Crew, Mark Reed, Rochelle Redfield, Max Delor, Barbara Scaff, Dominic Gould, Geoffrey Carey, Allan Wenger, Paul Bandey, Coralie Seyrig, Goran Vejvoda, Helen Later, Paul Barrett, Leslie Clack, Lemmy Constantine, Robert Dauney, Geoffrey Greenhill, Irene Palko, Féodor Atkine, Jacques Bonnaffé, Patrice Bornand, Géraldine Bourgue, Bernard Brieux, Pierre-Jean Chérer, Anne-Laure Delpech, Nathalie Lacroix, Pierre Laplace, Lucienne Legrand, Marine Logier, Françoise Lorente, Michael Ozanon, Alexis Perret, Christophe Ratandra, Christophe Raymond, Philippe Risler, Jean-Claude Sachot, Christopher Thompson, Jean-Louis Trintignant 

Director: Enki Bilal

Movie Review: Windfall (2003)

Windfall (2003)
American Cinema International, Media Pro Pictures, Nu Image / Millennium Films, USA, Romania, 2003. 

Mr. Wescott (Ray Wise) opens Casino Royale in South Carolina. Scratch (Robert Englund) and Ace Logan (Casper Van Dien) try to rob the casino but security chief Bill Trask (Gregg Henry) foils their plan. After a furious chase the boys get caught. However they avoid prison by agreeing to work for Mr. Wescott as casino guards although Trask and assistant Amber Malley (Libby Hudson Lydecker) express their disagreement about the deal. Ace and Scratch, a little bit criminals but good men.

Ace

Scratch

Mr. Wescott

Hurricane Brenda is approaching the island where the casino is located. Meteorologists John (Jeff Celentano) and Melanie (Brenda Epperson) try to warn. Meanwhile Trask is stealing money from Wescott, and his gang tries to get rid of Ace and Amber who are becoming close. Trask plans to rob the casino during the storm. Not going to happen if Ace, Scratch and Amber have their say. 

Amber

Trask

Melanie and John

Direct to video action thriller / disaster movie hybrid has some familiar faces, there is Laura Palmer's dad, Freddy Krueger, Casper Van Dien himself and Gregg Henry, known for numerous movies and TV-series. Also the henchmen are commonly visitors in TV-shows. The story has the style of 1990s action thrillers. This seems to be a quite little known film although it is far from being Casper Van Dien's worst. Make no mistake, it has a silly script, some questionable acting and obvious goofs are plentiful. Night turns into a day in just five minutes et cetera. But it is dumb and fun, a slightly positive surprise as I wasn't expecting much. It is still better than, let's say, most Steven Seagal's East-European productions. There are some nice chase scenes too. Ray Wise has the best role as a benevolent casino owner. Robert Englund is underused but has some fun scenes. Van Dien is playing the same hero role as always. Gregg Henry imitates Gary Busey's villains. 

Rating: Good (as a direct to video movie)

Starring: Casper Van Dien, Gregg Henry, Libby Hudson Lydecker, Robert Englund, Ray Wise, Cyril O'Reilly, Daniel Roebuck, Jeremy Roberts, Jeff Kober, Florin Tanase, Paul Andreescu, Kristin Herold, Brenda Epperson, Jeff Celentano, Adrian Codrescu, Ion Cavase, Marian Vasile, Andi Marian, Corina Danila, Plavitiu George, Ion Constantinescu, Ted Pretty, Loredana Groza, Adrian Pavlovschi 

Director: Gerry Lively

Finnish Independence Day Special 3: Silver from Across the Border (Hopeaa rajan takaa)

Silver from Across the Border (Hopeaa rajan takaa)
Fennada-Filmi, Finland, 1963. 

Based on Esa Anttala's novel about his own adventures during the Interim Peace. 

It is 1941, a time between the Winter War and the Continuation War. Two young Winter War veterans Esa Anttala (Veikko Kerttula) and Esa Wist (Jaakko Pakkasvirta) are trying to sneak across the Finnish-Soviet border to retrieve other Wist's father's silverware that was hidden in the lost Karelian territory. The treasure can't be left to the Soviets! Their first attempt fails and they get temporarily arrested by Finnish guards. After getting free they decide to recruit a third man to help carry the silver, a fun-loving ladies' man named Toivo Paukku (Pertti "Spede" Pasanen). 

Esa Wist and Esa Anttala

Toivo Paukku

They plan to visit their old houses but the Communists have let the buildings go ramshackled. Also the war has destroyed many landmark buildings that they once knew and loved. The trio is always in danger of getting caught. They can not even boil tea without nosy Russians asking why they are not working for the kolkhoz. Digging the treasure up from the ruins is dangerous and informers lurk everywhere. On the return trip they wander in the middle of Red Army war games. Can they ever get back alive?

'Friendly' Russian offers some tea

Rampaging border guards

This film is unavailable with English subtitles. All of the three main actors would later direct their own films. It is worthwhile to note that this was the rare serious role of Finnish comedy legend Spede Pasanen. Well, serious and serious. His presence in the story brings humour to the story, but he can also perform a dramatic role as Toivo is in bad physical shape and constantly a risk to the mission. He also gets panicky and fears that they will get captured. The excitement gets on their nerves but they still stick together. This is quite light adventure with some thrills, bushwhacking, stealthy sneaking and bawdy songs. From the small elements it manages to build entertainingly thrilling climax. It is considered a minor work by director Mikko Niskanen. The 60s music feels often anachronistic but brings also the feeling of men carrying out an impossible mission.

Rating: Good

Starring: Jaakko Pakkasvirta, Spede Pasanen, Veikko Kerttula, Esko Tuomi, Erkki Ertama, Rauno Lehtinen, Aaro Kurkela, Martti Saarikivi, Anja Ahlström, Marja Mosander, Sirkka Nirvi, Max Rand, Pentti Saaritsa, Juha Virkkunen, Holger Blommila, Matti Lehtelä, Ilkka Liikanen, Paavo Kuoppala, Lennart Lauramaa, Boris Levitsky, Kaija Snellman 

Director: Mikko Niskanen